Friday, October 2, 2015

September Ancestor: John Piatt Foresman

Oops, September must have gotten away from me. Here it is the second day of October.
For September, I am blogging about one of my husband's ancestors John Piatt Foresman. I have been working on this family this month, in fact I've been tracing several of his descendants.

John Piatt Foresman was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania on June 15, 1826 to John Foresman and Mary Elizabeth Piatt. He grew up in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. He marries Anna Filbert August 17, 1848 probably in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. They become parents to 9 (or 10) children, 2 (or 3) boys and 7 girls. Between 1855 and 1857, they move from Lycoming County, Pennsylvania to McDonough county, Illinois with 4 of their children. The younger 5 children are then born in McDonough county, Illinois. The children are named the following: Mary Regina, Lydia Ann, Ludwig Henry, Sarah Elizabeth, Almira Louise, Martha Colwell, Laura Catherine, Harriet L., and James Piatt. Another possible child I have listed is Charles P. but I don't find him in the 1880 census or any other information about him, so I am doubting his existence or if he belonged to a different family.

My husband descends from the youngest child James Piatt Foresman. Interestingly enough (to me), Mary Regina Foresman married Robert A. Buchanan; they were the parents of 5 children, and at least 2 (and possibly 3) of those children moved to Nebraska and are buried in the next county from where we live! I went to the cemetery and found those 2 children's gravestones, and I think there is a good possibility another one is buried there but she possibly has an unmarked grave.

But back to John Piatt Foresman: In 1860 I find him listed as a farmer in McDonough county, Illinois where the value of his personal estate is listed as 175. So I'm not sure if that's $175 worth of farm land, or 175 acres. In the 1870 census, he is a farmer in McDonough county, Illinois with value listed of 830. By 1880 the Foresman family moves to Hancock county, Illinois where he is a farmer. He remains in Hancock county for the rest of his life until December 1, 1891 when he passes away. He is buried in Harris Cemetery, outside of Dallas City, in Hancock County, Illinois.


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